Complete guide to running your EU e-commerce store
ForgeCommerce Documentation — Generated 2026-02-15ForgeCommerce is an EU-first e-commerce platform designed for small businesses and manufacturers. Here are the key areas you'll work with:
Configure VAT, shipping zones, and selling countries before adding products.
Create products with attributes, variants, images, and Bills of Materials.
Process orders through their lifecycle: confirm, pack, ship, and deliver.
Automatic EU VAT calculation, B2B reverse charge, and tax-filing reports.
Track raw materials, BOMs, and production batches for your workshop.
Sales analytics, VAT reports for tax filing, CSV import/export, and webhooks.
Access your store's admin panel by navigating to your admin URL. All administrative functions — from managing products to processing orders — start here.
Navigate to your admin panel URL to see the login page. Enter the email and password for your administrator account.
Type your admin email address and password, then click "Sign In". If two-factor authentication (2FA) is enabled, you'll be prompted for a verification code next.
After successful login, you land on the Dashboard — your command center. The sidebar on the left provides quick access to every section of your store administration.
The Dashboard is your daily starting point. It provides a quick overview of your store's health: today's orders, monthly revenue, stock alerts, and pending work. Think of it as your store's heartbeat monitor.
The dashboard shows four key metrics at a glance: Orders Today, Revenue This Month, Low Stock Alerts, and Pending Orders. These stats load automatically and update in real-time.
Below the stats, you'll find your most recent orders with their status, customer email, and total. Click any order number to view its full details.
The left sidebar is your main navigation. It's organized by workflow: Products & Categories for your catalog, Orders for fulfillment, Reports for analytics, and Settings for store configuration. The divider separates daily operations from setup tasks.
ForgeCommerce is built EU-first with comprehensive VAT support. Configure your VAT registration, select which countries you sell to, and let the system automatically calculate the correct VAT rate for each order based on the destination country and product category.
The VAT Settings page is where you configure your store's tax compliance. Enable VAT, enter your VAT registration number, select your home country, and choose whether your product prices include VAT or are displayed as net prices.
Select which EU countries your store ships to. Only enabled countries appear in the customer checkout, and VAT is calculated based on the destination country. Use "Select All" / "Deselect All" for bulk changes.
This table shows the current VAT rates for each enabled country, organized by rate type. Rates are synced automatically from the European Commission TEDB service every midnight (UTC). You can also trigger a manual sync with the "Sync Now" button.
Here's the full VAT settings page showing all three sections: configuration, country selection, and rate management.
Set up shipping rates that work for your business. ForgeCommerce supports flat-rate, weight-based, and size-based shipping with optional zones for per-country rate overrides. Combine with a free shipping threshold to boost your average order value.
Configure your global shipping settings: enable/disable shipping, choose a calculation method (fixed fee, weight-based, or size-based), and set a free shipping threshold. The default currency is used for all shipping calculations.
Shipping zones let you group countries with similar shipping rates. For example, "Iberian Peninsula" (Spain + Portugal) might have lower rates than "Central Europe" (Germany, France, Belgium). Each zone overrides the global rate for its countries.
The complete shipping settings page with global configuration at the top and zone management below.
Categories organize your products into a logical hierarchy that customers can browse. A well-organized category tree makes it easy for shoppers to find what they're looking for.
The Categories page shows your product category hierarchy. Categories help organize your catalog and improve navigation for customers. Each category has a name, slug (URL path), and optional parent.
To create a category, provide a name and optional description. Choose a parent category for nesting, and add SEO fields for search engine optimization.
Click any category name to edit it. You can change the name, description, parent category, and SEO settings. The slug updates automatically if you change the name.
ForgeCommerce is designed for manufacturers who track raw materials. Manage your inventory of leather, hardware, thread, and other components. These materials connect to products through the Bill of Materials (BOM) system.
The Raw Materials page shows your inventory of components and supplies. Each material has a SKU, unit of measure, current stock level, and supplier info. Materials with stock below the low-stock threshold are highlighted.
Each raw material has detailed information: cost per unit, stock quantity, supplier details, and lead time. This data feeds into the Bill of Materials (BOM) calculations for your products.
When you source a new material, add it here with its SKU, cost, unit of measure, initial stock quantity, and supplier information. This material can then be used in product BOMs.
The list page gives you a complete overview of your inventory levels. Filter or search to find specific materials quickly.
Products are the heart of your store. ForgeCommerce gives you powerful tools for managing complex products with multiple attributes (Color, Size, Material), automatically generated variants, Bills of Materials for manufacturers, image galleries, and per-country VAT configuration. Each product has 7 tabs covering every aspect of its configuration.
The Products page shows all your products with their status, SKU prefix, price, and stock. Use the status filter to view Active, Draft, or Archived products.
The Details tab is where you set the product's basic information: name, description, pricing, weight, and SEO fields. Notice the tab bar at the top — each tab manages a different aspect.
Attributes define the axes of variation for your product — Color, Size, Material, etc. Each attribute has a type that controls how it's displayed in the storefront (dropdown, color swatch, buttons, or image swatch).
Variants are the purchasable combinations of your attributes. A product with 3 colors and 2 sizes generates 6 variants, each with its own SKU, stock level, and optional price override. Click "Generate Variants" to create all combinations automatically.
The BOM defines which raw materials are needed to produce this product. Layer 1 shows base materials needed for ALL variants. Layer 3 allows per-variant overrides (e.g., Brown/Large needs more leather than Black/Standard).
Upload product images here. Supported formats: JPEG, PNG, WebP, GIF (max 10 MB each). Set a primary image for the catalog thumbnail, and optionally assign images to specific variants.
Override the default VAT category for this specific product, and add per-country overrides. For example, food products may qualify for a reduced rate in some countries but standard rate in others.
Link reusable global attribute templates to this product. Unlike product-specific attributes, global attributes are defined once and shared across products — change an option globally, and every linked product gets the update.
Click "+ New Product" to start creating. Fill in the name, price, and description on the Details tab. Once saved, the other tabs (Attributes, Variants, BOM, Images, VAT) become available.
Global Attributes let you define reusable attribute templates — create "Color" once with 20 options, then link it to 50 products. Each product can select which subset of options it offers. Changes to the template automatically propagate to all linked products.
Global Attributes are reusable attribute templates. Instead of defining "Color" separately on every product, create it once here with all options, then link it to any product that needs it.
Define the attribute name (internal, snake_case), display name, type, and category. After creation, you can add metadata fields and options.
Orders are the result of successful checkout. ForgeCommerce handles the full order lifecycle from pending through delivery, with built-in support for B2B reverse charge orders, VAT snapshots, and tracking number management.
The Orders page shows all orders with their number, status, customer email, total, and date. Orders flow through a lifecycle: Pending → Confirmed → Processing → Shipped → Delivered.
Use the status filter buttons to quickly find orders in a specific state. This helps you focus on what needs attention — "Pending" orders need confirmation, "Processing" orders need to be packed and shipped.
The order detail shows the complete breakdown: ordered items with quantities and prices, shipping fees, VAT calculation, discount applied (if any), and the final total. All VAT information is snapshotted at the time of order — it won't change if rates update.
On the right side, you'll find status transition buttons. Move the order through its lifecycle: Confirm → Process → Ship (add tracking number) → Mark Delivered. You can also cancel an order at most stages.
Run promotions with flexible discounts (percentage or fixed) and coupon codes. Discounts can target the subtotal, shipping, or total, with optional conditions like minimum purchase and date ranges.
Discounts define promotional rules: percentage off, fixed amount, applied to subtotal or shipping. Each discount has date ranges, minimum purchase amounts, and priority for stacking rules.
Configure the discount type (percentage or fixed), value, scope (subtotal, shipping, or total), minimum order amount, maximum discount cap, date range, and whether it stacks with other discounts.
Coupons are codes that customers enter at checkout to activate a discount. Each coupon is linked to a discount rule and can have usage limits (total and per-customer).
For manufacturers, production batches bridge the gap between raw materials and finished products. Plan batches, track material consumption, and update finished goods inventory — all in one place.
Track your manufacturing with production batches. Each batch produces a quantity of a specific product variant, consuming raw materials according to the BOM. The lifecycle goes: Planned → In Progress → Completed.
Select the product and variant to produce, set the quantity, and add optional notes. The system will calculate required materials based on the BOM.
Two essential reports for running your EU business: the Sales Report for tracking revenue, and the VAT Report for tax compliance. Both support date range selection and CSV export.
The Sales Report shows your revenue over a selected period. View daily breakdowns, cumulative totals, order counts, and average order value. Use the date picker to change the period.
The VAT Report breaks down tax collected by country and rate type — exactly what you need for EU tax filing. It shows total VAT collected per country, split by rate type (standard, reduced, etc.).
Both reports offer CSV export for integration with your accounting tools. The CSV includes all the detail shown on screen plus additional fields for programmatic processing.
Bulk manage your data with CSV import and export. Export products, materials, and orders for reporting or backup. Import products and materials from CSV for bulk catalog updates.
The Import/Export page is your data management center. Export your products, raw materials, or orders as CSV files, or import product and material data from CSV.
The page shows all available export types at the top and import forms below. Each export type downloads a CSV immediately.
Manage your team's access to the admin panel and set up integrations with external systems. Admin users control who can manage your store, while webhooks enable real-time integrations.
Manage who has access to your admin panel. Each admin user has a role, 2FA status, and can be activated or deactivated. Add team members, warehouse staff, or your accountant.
Create a new admin account with email, name, password, and role. The user will be prompted to set up 2FA on their first login.
Webhooks send real-time notifications to external systems when events happen in your store (new order, payment received, stock change). This is how you integrate with shipping providers, accounting tools, or custom workflows.
Configure the endpoint URL, select which events to subscribe to, and optionally set a signing secret. The webhook will fire for every selected event type.